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JVith the Compliments of the 
Missouri State 'Board 
of Agriculture 




A Tip on Missouri Corn 




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JUL 25 1910 



K ^nA^, A' MISSOURI LEADS-LET OTHERS FOLLOW 



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ORN IN MISSOURI. The great American cereal, the world's greatest gram crop, the cap 
sheaf of Missouri's superb agricultural wealth, is corn — Indian corn. This great crop, 
cultivated by the Indians before the discovery of America, and now a commercial crop of 
Europe, Africa, Australia and all America, is a greater source of wealth, directly and indirectly, 
than any other crop produced on our farms. The world produces annually 3,340,000,000 bushels 
of corn. The United States produces annually 2, .575, 000, 000 bushels, or more than three- 
fourths of the entire crop of the world. 

Missouri occupies the central position of the greatest corn area of the globe. Five states, of 
which Missouri is the central one, produce one-third of the entire crop of the world, and almost 
50 per cent of the crop of the United States. Missouri farms yielded in one year 314,000,000 
bushels of corn, which is more than 1,100 bushels for each farm family in the State. 

MISSOURI IS A GREAT CORN STATE. 

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MISSOURI CORN SHOWS QUALITY 

.,„^^J*'l!^'^"''^-^°^^^^? *^£!*F'^^' ^^'^f^'^^ of Reid's Yellow Dent, exhibited at the State Corn Show held 
under the auspices of the State, Board of Agriculture, January, 1909. 



MISSOURI SOIL AND CLIMATE ADAPTED TO CORN GROWING 

^^HE fertile valleys of the Mississippi and Missouri, and of the numerous other rivers of the 
/I I State, the black prairie loam of the central and northern sections, and the alluvial plains of 
^^ southeastern Missouri, furnish millions of acres of the best corn soil of the world. The 
rainfall of this section is abundant, but not excessive. The climate is mild, and the growing 
season long enough to produce the maximum yield of corn. The season for planting extends 
from March to July, giving the farmers an opportunity to plant and cultivate large areas. It 
lequires from 110 to 130 clays to mature a crop of corn in Missouri. The average date for the 
first killing frost in central Missouri is October 15th, which gives ample time for early-maturing 
corn to ripen when planted as late as June 20th. 

The rainfall is well distributed through the year, the average for the different seasons being 
as follows: 

Spring, 11.97 inches; Summer, 12.12 inches. 

Autumn, 8.47 inches; Winter, 6.49 inches. 

"The average crop-season precipitation — March to September, inclusive — is 27.65 inches. 
This is three inches greater than that of Illinois, five inches greater than that of Kansas, seven 
inches greater than that of Minnesota, and eight inches greater than that of Nebraska." Plenty 
of rain and a fertile soil make 

MISSOURI A GREAT CORN STATE. 

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VALUE OF MISSOURI CORN LANDS 

-^rHE value of farm land is fixed largely by its productiveness, and upon this basis Missouri 
^[ ranks near the top of all the great central states. The yield of corn per acre in the whole 
United States for ten years— 1899-1908, inclusive — was 258 bushels. Missouri produced, 
during the same ten years, 285.8 bushels, or 27.8 bushels more than the average. At 40 cents 
per bushel, the rental for Missouri corn land is $11.12 more per acre in ten years than the aver- 
age for the United States; or, a yearly return of $1.11 higher than the average. Figuring the 
investment on a 6 per cent basis, Missouri corn lands are worth $18 more per acre than the 
average for the United States. 

When we think of the great state of Kansas, we imagine great corn fields and long rows of 
corn-bins bursting with corn, and yet, according to the United States Department of Agriculture, 
Missouri produced in the last ten years 54.9 bushels more corn per acre than Kansas; in other 
words, figuring the price of land on a 6 per cent investment, Missouri corn land will bring an 
annual rental of $2.19 more per acre than Kansas; or, as a business proposition, one acre of Missouri 
corn land is worth, upon a 6 per cent basis, $34 more than one acre of Kansas corn land. 

Figures Don't Lie— and MISSOURI IS A GREAT CORN STATE. 

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MISSOURI SURPLUS GREATER THAN CROP OF TEN STATES 

1 1 HE year 1907 was only a normal crop year for Missouri, but wc produced in that year 85,- 

1/ 883,000 bushels more corn than was raised by the farmers of Kansas; or, in other words, 

as much corn as was produced in Kansas, Michigan and Louisiana combined. Missouri is 

a great live stock state, and most of the corn is fed in the county where growai; but there was 

shipped from the state in 1907, 15,863,000 bushels, which was more than twice the entire amount 

produced in the ten western states combined. 

The three counties showing the largest surplus shipments, according to the Labor Bureau, 
are Scott, 901,210 bushels; Carroll, 875,509 bushels; and Mississippi, 865,000 bushels. 

The five counties making the largest total yield per county are, in the order named, Nodaway, 
Atchison, Saline, Carroll, and Harrison. The aggregate yield of these five counties in 1907 was 
34,000,000 bushels. 

Forty-eight counties in the state, scarcely 40 per cent of the total state area, pi'oduced 
170,000,000 bushels, or a greater amount than the entire production of any state in the Union, 
except three. Surely 

MISSOURI IS A GREAT CORN STATE. 








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COST OF GROWING CORN IN MISSOURI 

TT[0 GET at the actual cost of ijroduciiig an acre of coin in this state, the Board of Agriculture 
^i submitted a list of questions to a number of leading corn growers in the different sections, 
^^ and the average of their reports is given below. This estimate is based upon the supposition 
that the simplest way to arrive at th(^ cost of producing an acre of corn is to reckon the cost of 
rental for the land and seed and all the labor connected with growing and harvesting the crop, 
the labor i)aid for at the current rate of wages in the neighborhood. 

Cost of Growing One Acre. 

For plowing, including previous preparation $1 52 

Preparing the land aftei- plowing t)<j 

For seed, improved ciuality 37 

For planting. . . ■. 33 J 

For cultivating 2 12 

For harvesting, the grain only 2 26 

For cash rental 5 00 

Average cost per acre $12 26J 

The average yield per acre for five years, made by all the men repoi'ting, has been 65A bushels, 
which, at 40 cents a bushel, leaves them a net profit of $13.94. Others may do as well, for 

MISSOURI IS A GREAT CORN STATE. 



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MISSOURI MAKES A HIGH AVERAGE YIELD 

.,HE largest authenticated yield, reported to the Board of Agriculture, is 132-2-5-bushels to 
■/ the acre. A large number of farmers, representing a great many counties in every section 
of the state, have reported an average yield, for the best acre of land, of 91 bushels. (The 
yields ranging from 68 to 108 bushels.) The same farmers report that they have made an average 
yield for five years of 65A bushels per acre. According to their own estimates it costs an average 
of $12.26 to produce an acre of corn. At 40 cents per bushel, a yield of 65i bushels will make 
6 per cent interest on a valuation of $200 per acre, and leave a sufficient amount to pay for the 
cost of growing and all fertilizers that are needed. What these men have done, others may do. 
There is no better investment than Missouri corn lands, which may be bought at from $40 to 
$100 per acre; and when the farmers of the state all adopt improved methods, as advocated by the 
Missouri State Board of Agriculture and the Agricultural College, corn lands may be expected to 
advance from 25 to 50 per cent, for 

MISSOURI IS A GREAT CORN STATE. 

10 



COB-PIPE CORN 

rltJt'ISSOURI produces annually approximately 25,000,000 cob pipes, all made from cobs of 
mJ^^\ Missouri corn. It takes a large cob of close texture to make a good pipe, and a variety 
of corn known as cob-pipe corn has been developed for the purpose in this state. It 
requires very rich land and a long-growing season to produce the best quality of cobs for this 
purpose. The counties leading in the manufacture of cob-pipes are, in the order named, Franklin, 
Gasconade, Pike and Warren ; but the corn for this purpose is grown principally in the Missouri 
River bottoms. The cobs are sold at about $2.50 per thousand, and should be from 1 J to 2 inches 
in diameter; and the crop will yield from two to three thousand merchantable cobs per acre. 
The yield of grain is somewhat less than it is with other improved varieties of corn, but the net 
returns for both corn and cobs are estimated at from four to five dollars per acre more than for 
other varieties. The Missouri Meerschaum is sold throughout the world, and 

MISSOURI IS A GREAT CORN STATE. 
11 



A BANNER YIELD 

^^'HE banner year for corn in Missouri was 1902, when, according to the estimates made by the 
lt\ State Board of Agriculture, Missouri produced more corn per acre than any state in the 
^^ Union, and a greater total amount than any state except one, the amount produced that 
year being 314,093,985 bushels. This is 628,188 carloads of 500 bushels each, or 31,409 train loads 
of 20 cars each. Figuring seven and one-half trains to the mile, we have one long track of trains 
extending 4,188 miles, or further than from the Atlantic to Pacific oceans, and all this corn grown 
in Missouri in one year. For five years — 1904 to 1908, inclusive — Missouri has produced, accord- 
ing to the statistics of the XTnited States Department of Agriculture, a total of 1,027,997,000 
bushels of corn. This number of bushels is eciual to 2,055,599 car loads of 500 bushels each. 
Allowing 20 cars to the train, there would be 102,799 trains, which, were it possible to get a track 
so long and so straight, would extend in one unbroken line for 13,707 miles. Think of one solid 
train of corn extending more than half the distance arovmd the earth, or picture 48 solid trams 
of corn side by side, and each one extending from St. Louis to Kansas City, then remember that 
Missouri has produced this amount of corn in five years. The state contains 45,425,600 acres; 
a normal acreage of corn in the state is more than 7,000,000, thus, almost one-sixth of the entire 
area is cultivated in corn. 



MISSOURI IS A GREAT CORN STATE. 



THE GLORY OF THE CORN 

Indian Corn. It is summer, and stalks, sturdy and straight, bear on their backs papooses — - 
Indian corn babies. Autumn comes, the harvesters go forth and, ere they finish, the fields are 
filled with wondrous wigwams, rich in garnered grain. Then are peace and prosperity pledged 
and promised in a thousand pipes — Missouri meerschaums. 

American Corn. The fields are fiuttering flags. The long straight rows are stripes, mayhap 
multiplied ten thousand fold; checked hills the stars, myriads for each state. American corn! 
Fancy paints another picture. Do the winds whisper of war? Then stands each stalk, with 
drawn blade — stands as a sentinel, silent, yet eager to try his sword. 

Missouri Corn. Product of plent3^ maker of beef and pork, source of wealth of the people; 
in cakes, satisfying; in mush, sustaining; in meerschaum, soothing. Missouri corn, gold and 
silver, products of nature's mysterious alchemy, minted into money and measured in millions. 

MISSOURI IS A GREAT CORN STATE. 

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MISSOURI'S DIVERSIFIED RESOURCES 

/Illi ISSOURI has a greater diversity of resources and industries than any other state in the 
2/11^ Union. The state has large manufacturing and commercial industries; 147 lines of 
railway, with more than 7,000 miles to take care of our transportation; 25,000 square 
miles of coal land; and iron ore, clay deposits, building stone, lead, zinc, plate-glass sands, nickel, 
lime rock, and other minerals. 

In farm crops, Missouri can and does produce every crop known to the Mississippi Valley. 
Corn, however, is the great staple, with the grasses and clover second in importance, and upon 
which is based the success of our magnificent live stock interests valued at 250 millions of dollars. 
In conclusion, this little booklet is published for the purpose of attracting attention to the 
opportunities for investment in Missouri corn lands, and not for giving information on growing 
corn. 

A bulletin, prepared by the Agricultural College, is now in press, giving the results of recent 
experiments in the latest improved methods of growing corn; a copy of which may be had by 
addressing the Agricultural College, Columbia. 

Respectfully, 

GEO. B. ELLIS, 
Secretary Missouri State Board of 
Agriculture. 
And it is True— MISSOURI IS A GREAT CORN STATE. 

15 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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Hollinger Corp. 
pH 8.5 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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